Hata no Kokoro's Smiling Adventure
by pellyeve93
Summary: Kokoro wants to smile and laugh naturally, just like everyone else does. With the help of her new friend, Koishi, she goes on a journey to learn how to show happiness without using her masks. Slight Kokoro x Koishi.
1. Chapter 1

_Dedicated to Snapority_

Kokoro wasn't used to this whole "best friends" thing. In fact, she'd never really had a friend, let alone a "best" one. She wasn't even sure why she agreed to be friends with that very unusual youkai in the first place. After all, hadn't she been the one who refused to return her Mask of Hope when she'd first asked for it back?

But then again, Kokoro had never been the type to hold a grudge, and as she sat on the grass with her "new best friend", she couldn't help but remember the day that this little friendship had started.

* * *

_The Human Village; about a week after the "Hopeless Masquerade" incident:_

"M-miss Kokoro?"

'_That voice..._' The menreiki turned around, her Raiden mask now visible on her face to show that she was feeling quite surprised. "Oh, you're the one who took my Mask of Hope, " she remarked plainly, staring down at the small girl in front of her she replaced her Raiden mask with her Hannya mask of anger.

"Yeah, it's me. Koishi. Well I-I... my sister said that I should give your mask back because uh, taking other people's things is bad so... Here!"

Kokoro stared at the satori standing before her, not sure how to feel. That was definitely her mask of hope, no doubt about it. She was glad it was okay of course, but still angry that it had taken a week for this Koishi girl to give it back. But something about this youkai was bothering her.

Koishi looked scared... almost guilty, but wasn't she supposed to be emotionless too?

"Here! Take it... I'm sorry for not giving it back but I don't want it any more..." The satori hled out the mask, attempting to push it into Kokoro's hands.

"I have a new one."

"Oh."

Still having no idea how to she was supposed to feel in this sort of situation, Kokoro simply donned her fox mask and pushed the Koishi's hands away. "Keep it," she said in her usual monotone voice.

"Bu-but I..." Koishi looked like she was about to cry, "I thought that y-you wanted it... I thought if y-you got it b-back you'd like me... I-I... I JUST WANNA BE YOUR FRIEND!" She was sobbing now, so loudly that many of the humans in the village were staring at the two.

Kokoro looked around, not wanting the humans to think she'd hurt the girl. Unsure of how to deal with crying beings, she grabbed the satori's arm and pulled her into a nearby alleyway.

"I-I don't want y-you to -hic- hate m-me!" Koishi was still weeping, using the mask to hide her face.

"...Don't cry." The menreiki awkwardly patted Koishi's back. "I don't... hate you."

As if by magic, Koishi immediately ceased her crying and dropped the mask, revealing a huge smile. "Really?! You like me?! You want to be my friend?"

Friend... That was a word she didn't hear often. No one had ever asked to be her friend. Covering her expressionless face with the young lady mask so she could show she was feeling happy, Kokoro nodded. "yes. I'll be your... friend."

* * *

"Heeey, wakey wakey Kokoro! It's only midday."

Kokoro opened her eyes, only to be greeted by the sight of a very happy Koishi leaning right into her face. That was odd... It wasn't like her to just fall asleep like that.

"I made you a really pretty thing for your hair, look!" The satori grabbed her by the arms and pulled her up. "It's a flower crown," explained Koishi, holding up the ring of daisies and dropping it on Kokoro's lap, "I made it with these really pretty flowers! You can make all kinds of things with them, but I made you a crown because you don't have a hat or any ribbons in your hair."

"Thank you." Deciding that she was feeling happy, Kokoro put her young lady mask on as Koishi placed the flower crown on her head.

"The flowers might die... but I could show you how to make another one. Would you like that?"

The menreiki nodded. She really wasn't the talkative one of the two.

"I'll show you in a second. We need to find a place with more flowers first!" Koishi sighed happily, gently grabbing a lock of her friend's hair and plaiting it. "I wish my hair was pretty like yours... I've been trying to grow mine out for _ages_ but it's growing really slowly. My other best friend Flandre has long hair too, but not as long as yours. Maybe I can introduce you to her one day. Wouldn't that be fun?"

Again, Kokoro just nodded, not wanting to talk because her emotionless tone might make it seem like she was bored, even though she was having fun. She wished she could put some emotion into her voice, or at least be able to change her facial expressions, like Koishi could. She wanted to be able to smile and laugh, like everyone else.

Suddenly feeling sad, her young lady mask was quickly replaced with her Uba mask.

"Why are you sad?" Koishi asked, letting go of her hair and sitting in front of her, looking concerned.

"I... want to be like you."

"Why? I'm nothing special at all."

"You are special. You're emotionless, like me, but you... you're able to show how you feel."

"Oh." Koishi looked confused. "So you want to show emotion without your masks?"

"Yes. You can teach me, can't you? I just want to be able to smile and laugh really."

The satori shook her head. "Nope. I don't really know why I get happy or sad, it just... sorta happens. I can't explain it. Sorry..."

Kokoro kept her old woman mask on and hung her head.

"Don't be sad. Umm... Here!" Koishi pushed her friend's mask aside and placed her index fingers on the corner of her mouth, pushing them up so that Kokoro's mouth was upturned in a smile.

But of course, the second she took her hands away, the menreiki's blank expression returned.

"We could... find people who know lots about feelings! Or we could find really funny people who could tell you and really _really_ hilarious joke and make you laugh! My friend Flandre is really funny so we could go see her first and see if she can make you smile."

"Really?"

"Yep! We can go to the Scarlet Devil Mansion right now. It isn't that far away. Let's go!"

* * *

(A/N:) Written for a very special person who left us this day last year. I remember they said to me once that if I could write a multi-chapter story, finish it and _not_ include tragedy (very funny, Snappy), they'd send me a jam jar in the mail (though I'm not very fond of jam...). So here it is, about a year later I finally take up their challenge, based on one of their favourite game series. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and the next one should be up soon!


	2. Chapter 2

"This is Misty Lake!" announced Koishi as she grabbed Kokoro's hand and pulled her closer, "Isn't it gorgeous? The Scarlet Devil Mansion is _rriighhht _over there, so all we have to do is -"

"Hey! You over there!"

The pair looked up to see a small, angry-looking figure flying above them with folded arms. "What makes you think you can just show up and fly across _my _lake?"

"Um, Cirno, this isn't exactly your lake..." a quiet voice from behind the figure called out.

"Yeah, you don't own it unless you have all the proper paperwork!" Koishi pointed out, letting go of her friend's hand and flying up closer to the figure. "Oh! You're that ice fairy, right?"

"Mhm, I'm Cirno and this is my assistant, Daiyousei," said the fairy, pointing to the girl cowering behind her, "As I said, this is _my_ lake so you intruders can't just fly across it!"

"Don't worry, little fairies! We only wanna get to that really big mansion over there, so we won't cause any trouble," Koishi explained, smiling at the two fairies happily.

"No. Go away." Cirno glared at her, making a shooing motion with her hand.

"Woah, you aren't very friendly, are you? Well, if you won't let us cross this lake, maybe you could give us a little help with something? I hear you're _very_ stupid, so maybe you could do something silly and make my friend over here laugh if you're not gonna let us fly across." The satori looked over at Kokoro and beckoned her over.

"DID YOU JUST CALL ME STUPID?!" the ice fairy yelled as the air around them became very cold.

"Yep! So if you could just do something stupid and make my frie-"

"HOW DARE YOU!" Cirno grabbed Koishi by the collar of her shirt and pulled her closer so that their noses were very nearly touching. "_You're _the stupid one!"

The fairy who had been hiding behind Cirno suddenly flew out and desperately tried in vain to separate the two. "Cirno! Please don't start any fights today... And put her down, you're hurting her!"

The ice fairy shrugged her off, "She's the one who started it, Dai-chan! And who cares if I'm hurting her? She needs to be thought a lesson! Where should I start..."

Still keeping her distance, Kokoro nervously watched the scene that was playing out in front of her. She didn't really want to get involved. After all, she'd spent a whole week fighting, but she couldn't just stand there while that fairy could very well be hurting her friend... Koishi would help her if she was in the same situation, wouldn't she? Deciding to intervene before things got _too _serious, the menreiki donned her Hannya mask and flew towards them.

Meanwhile, a few metres away, Cirno was giving her whole "I'm not stupid, you are!" speech, still retaining her grip on the "intruder's" shirt collar. "...So you better leave _right now_, idiot! Or I'll hurt you real bad!"

Koishi stared at her, her green eyes widening to a size that rivalled dinner plates as her smile slowly disappeared. "It isn't very polite to grab someone like that without their permission," she muttered.

"Well, calling someone stupid isn't "very polite" ei- Hey, who are you?" Cirno looked over at Kokoro, who was now beside Koishi, trying in vain to make her actual face look angry.

"Let... go of her."

"Cirno, please don't start anything! These two look way stronger than us. Let's just go away now..." Daiyousei pleaded, clutching her friend's arm and attempting to drag her away.

"Not until she-" Cirno suddenly doubled over and clutched her stomach, coughing and spluttering. "... w-what just happened?" she asked, looking up at Daiyousei.

"I don't know... w-where's that girl...?"

Now standing right beside Kokoro, Koishi stared at the two, the rim of her hat almost covering her eyes completely, her face still devoid of her usual smile. "I _said_, it isn't very polite to grab someone like that without their permission," she repeated, louder this time.

"Koishi?" Kokoro looked at her friend, wearing her monkey mask to try to show that she was feeling somewhat nervous.

Adjusting her hat, Koishi turned to face Kokoro, her grin returning but looking rather... forced. "Sorry for that little interruption. We should get going right away! No time to waste _at all_!" she chimed, once again grabbing her new friend's hand and dragging her away, leaving behind two very scared looking fairies.

* * *

As the two drew nearer to the mansion, Kokoro couldn't help but occasionally shoot a "worried" glance at Koishi.

The satori _looked _okay. She was smiling a more natural looking smile, her eyes were back to a less frightening size but she wasn't as talkative as usual. Despite only knowing her for less than a week, Kokoro had figured out that if Koishi was quiet, something was very wrong.

"Are you... all right, Koishi?"

"Yep! I'm absolutely _fantastic_! How are _you_?"

"... Fine," the menreiki replied, attempting to raise an eyebrow at the obvious lie her friend had just told but inevitably, failing, "You're not fantastic."

Koishi stopped dead in her tracks, pulling Kokoro back with her. Her smile faded as she hung her head. "How did you know?"

Kokoro shrugged. "What's wrong?"

"I don't like when people are mean to me. It makes me feel funny," Koishi mumbled, holding onto Kokoro's hand tighter. "I don't like feeling like this."

…

Suddenly, Koishi let go of Kokoro's hand and lunged at her, hugging her tightly and burying her face in her chest. Unsure of what to do (she wasn't used to being hugged at all), Kokoro just awkwardly patted her back.

"We're nearly at that place you were talking about," she pointed out after a moment, still patting the satori's back with a stiff hand.

Koishi just nodded, still hiding her face in Kokoro's chest. Then out of nowhere her shoulders started shaking and making weird, muffled noises, like she was crying.

"... Don't cry."

"I- ehehhee- I'm not crying heehee~! It's j-just ehehe- that really t-tickles!"

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's okay!" Koishi pulled away, once again, smiling. "You made me feel happy again! Thanks! Now let's go visit Flandre."

Kokoro nodded and watched in shock as her friend skipped off a head of her, humming to herself happily. It was like she had never felt sad at all. What a very weird youkai...

* * *

Kokoro was rather impressed by the mansion. It was _huge _to say the very least, and quite pretty too.

"This is the Scarlet Devil Mansion. And that's the gatekeeper lady, Meiling," Koishi said, pointing to the sleeping girl leaning on the grandiose gate, "She sleeps a lot, heehee~ Normally I wouldn't bother her but maybe she'll be able to help you learn to smile! I'm sure she knows lots of jokes! Follow me."

Koishi skipped towards the gatekeeper and grabbed the hem of her shirt, tugging on it, "_Heeey_. Miss Meiling! Wake up!"

"...Huh?! Sakuya?" Meiling looked around, confused when she saw no one, "Weird... I could have sworn someone wa-"

"I'm right here!" Koishi exclaimed, waving her hand in front of the gatekeeper's face.

"Oh! Uh, hi Koishi. You're here to see Lady Flandre, right?"

"Yep! And I brought my new friend, Kokoro!" Koishi grabbed Kokoro's arm and pulled her forward. "She needs some help with smiling. Do you know anything that could make her laugh?"

Meiling bit her lip and thought for a moment, before laughing quietly to herself. "Yeah, I think I know a joke. Well, there was this man who didn't really like his haircut but then it, heh, started to grow on him."

"I don't get it," said Koishi, looking at her blankly.

Kokoro once again put on her monkey mask. "I... don't understand that."

"Well it's an expression. Like, when someone grows on you... it's... never mind..." Meiling pushed the gate open and signalled for the pair to go through. "You should ask Sakuya for some jokes. Actually, ask her about "pads" and she'll tell you a _really _funny story."

"Okie dokie! Thanks for the help, Miss Meiling."

Kokoro followed Koishi through the gates, silently praying that someone in this mansion could help her. All she wanted was to laugh or at least smile, not go on a tour across the whole of Gensokyo.

"Koishi, what if no one here can help me?" she asked, speeding up her walking to catch up with the skipping satori.

"Oh, I know lots of places we can go," Koishi replied as she started listing off all the places she thought would have people who could help.

Yup. This little "adventure" was going to be a bit longer than Kokoro had expected.

* * *

(A/N:) Author apologises for a chapter that leaves a lot to be desired. Don't write at four in the morning. Hope you enjoyed reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Oddly enough, the mansion was _much_ bigger than it looked on the outside. In fact, Kokoro was sure (from what she'd seen) that it must be the biggest building in the whole of Gensokyo. She was at a loss for words, walking through the somewhat endless halls completely awestruck (well, as awestruck as a seemingly emotionless youkai could be).

"It's really big, isn't it?" Koishi said, looking back at Kokoro with a small smile on her face. "But don't worry, I know exactly where Flandre is!"

Kokoro, who only realised at that moment that she was lagging behind her friend, quickened her pace to catch up with her. "Where's that person you and the gatekeeper were talking about?" she asked, looking around.

"Oh, Sakuya? Hmm... well, I'm not sure. It depends on what time it is. Koishi looked around for a clock as they rounded a corner, but then stopped dead in her tracks and let out a shaky laugh, "Hehe, speak of the devil," she mumbled, staring at the tall woman who was standing in front of them with folded arms.

"Oh. It's just you, the Komeiji girl. And you've brought company. Splendid," the woman said in a tone so expressionless it put Kokoro's usual monotone voice to shame.

"Kokoro, this is Miss Sakuya. She's the head maid here."

The menreiki looked at the maid and nodded at her in a friendly fashion.

"You're the one who caused that whole religion war, aren't you?" Sakuya glared at Kokoro and tossed her hair, walking towards the two, "I'm getting really sick of all these incidents, you know?"

Koishi giggled nervously and quickly added, "But, hey! We've all caused some sort of incident, haven't we? I mean, if anyone knows about causing trouble, it'd be your mistress! Am I right?"

"You're so lucky Flandre really likes you," the maid mutter under her breath before clearing her throat and saying in a louder voice, "Funny. I supposed you're here to see Lady Flandre?"

"Yep! I'm gonna introduce her to Kokoro! Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. Miss Meiling told us that you knew a really funny story about... what was it again... oh yeah! A story about pads! She said it was funny and maybe it'll make Kokoro here laugh. Could ya tell us about it?"

Sakuya's expression darkened. "So Meiling mentioned something about "pads"?" she growled through clenched teeth.

"Yep!"

"I bet she did. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to practise my knife throwing."

"But aren't you go-"

Before Koishi could finish her sentence, the maid disappeared.

Koishi stared at the spot where she had been standing with twinkling eyes. "So mysterious... and so pretty, too!"

"I thought she was scary," said Kokoro, now wearing her monkey mask.

"Mmm... that too. But she's so pretty and elegant! I wish she could have told us that story though... Oh well! Now let's go find Flandre."

Koishi skipped ahead cheerfully, humming to herself. Kokoro was about to follow her, but the unmistakeable sound of screaming in the distance caught her attention.

"Did you hear that, Koishi?"

"Hear what?"

"That... screaming."

"Nuh-uh! Must have just been your imagination, silly."

After another few minutes of walking through the many red hallways of the mansion, Koishi finally ceased her skipping and stopped at a large, steel door.

"This is where Flandre stays," the satori whispered, resting her hand on the doorknob, "I'll go down first and tell her that you're here. She isn't used to strangers."

Kokoro nodded and stepped back, watching as Koishi walked down the steep staircase on the other side of the door. Hopefully this person she was talking about could actually help. So far, all the people they had talked to had done absolutely nothing. She was starting to think that maybe it would be best to just... give up. Using masks wasn't all that bad, was it?

It was nice of Koishi to try to help her but if she couldn't even crack a tiny smile or put any sort of emotion into her voice... what were the chances of a stupid joke making laugh or smile?

Minutes passed by slowly as she waited to be called down to whatever was at the bottom of those stairs. She'd looked down them but it was way too dark to see what was at the bottom.

"Hey Kokoro! You can come down now!"

'_Finally,_' she thought, pushing the heavy door open and grabbing the banister, holding onto it for dear life. How on earth did Koishi manage to practically _run_ down those stairs without tripping? A steep staircase with extremely narrow steps should have been enough to make anyone fear tripping. Kokoro was having a hard enough time just _walking _down them.

Once she finally reached the bottom, she was greeted with the sight of a very messy room and … her friend lying on the floor with a girl lying on top of her...

"Koishi?"

"Hi Kokoro! This is Flandre," the satori called out from underneath the girl, not even attempting to try and get up.

Kokoro stared at them, feeling very confused. What the hell were they doing? "...Hello Flandre."

Flandre turned around and stared at her.

…

"You're Kokoro?"

"... Yes."

The vampire stood up and walked towards her, holding out her hand. "Hi. Nice to meet you."

"Hi."

Kokoro stared at Flandre's hand. She was still holding it out to her expectantly...

Koishi, who was suddenly right beside her, whispered in her ear, "You're supposed to shake her hand. It's something Westerners do."

"Oh." She awkwardly held her own hand out and grabbed Flandre's giving it a light shake before pulling away.

"Yay!" Koishi exclaimed, "Now we're all friends. Great!"

Flandre frowned and put her arms around Koishi's waist, pulling her away from Kokoro. "But I'm your favourite, right?"

"Hehe... what do you m-mean, Flan?"

"Well, _I _was your friend first, wasn't I?" she muttered, glaring at Kokoro with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah but... we're all friends now, right?" Koishi said weakly, smiling at the two as she gently pushed Flandre off of herself.

"Who do you like more?"

Letting out a nervous laugh, Koishi dropped her gaze to the floor. "I like you both equally, Flan. You know that... hehe... Hey, don't look so worried Kokoro!"

The menreiki had every right to feel worried. Flandre was giving her one of the most evil looks she'd ever seen. At first she seemed nice but now... she was just plain out terrifying!

"Listen Flandre... Just come over here for a second." Koishi grabbed Flandre's arm and dragged her over to her bed, flashing Kokoro a reassuring smile. "Could you pleeeaassee help her with that thing I told you about? Pretty please?"

Kokoro watched the two from a distance, still vaguely able to make out their conversation. It didn't look like Flandre wanted to help her at all.

"_Pleeaasseee _Flandre? Just one little joke?"

"No!"

"Why?"

"_Because _I don't like her!"

"But _wwhhhyyyyy_?"

"Because she's trying to steal you away from me!"

"I'm... not," Kokoro interrupted, stepping closer to the pair.

"_See_? Please just do something that might make her laugh, Flan."

With a roll of her red eyes, Flandre tossed her hair and sighed. "_Fine_. I know one joke... I found it in a book, but I don't know if it'll work. Uh... why did the chicken cross the road?"

"..."

"To get to the other side! Ahaha..."

Kokoro stared at her blankly. "I don't understand that."

"Yeah, me neither."

"Well to be honest, I don't get it but in the book they thought it was funny! At least I tried!"

"A book? Have you still got it?" Koishi asked, "It might have other things that could make her laugh!"

"I gave it back to Patchy but I'm sure she'd give it to you. Just go and ask her."

"Great idea, Flan! C'mon Kokoro, we're going to the library." She grabbed the menreiki's hand and pulled her back towards the staircase.

"You're just going to leave me?" Flandre asked, suddenly looking very sad.

Koishi swivelled around and bit her lip. "Sorry... I promise I'll come see you later tonight, okay? I swear."

"O-okay."

Letting go of Kokoro's hand, the satori walked back over to her friend and gave her a quick hug and then skipped off towards the staircase, with Kokoro following behind her. "Bye Flan!"

Kokoro looked back and waved goodbye awkwardly before following Koishi up the stairs.

She decided that today was most definitely going to be longer than she had hoped.

* * *

(A/N:) Dear Computer: How dare you have a seizure and delete all my unsaved work.

To the Assholes Behind Me in Writing Class: How dare you talk to two hours and distract me so much that I barely get this chapter rewritten.

These past few days just haven't been going so well. My first handwritten draft of this disappears and my computer throws a fit. Nice. But at least I got this chapter done, even though my previous plans for updating have been ruined. Ah well, that's just life. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

"How big is this place?" Kokoro asked, gazing at the huge library in shock as she walked by yet another bookcase.

Koishi shrugged. "I don't know... Really, really, _really _big? We need to find Miss Patchouli . She'll be able to show us some books to help you!"

"How are we supposed to find her _here_?"

"Kokoro?!" Koishi stopped walking and stared at her friend with a huge smile on her face. "Your voice had some emotion in it just there! Well done!"

"Really?"

"Yep! Isn't that great? Uh, I think I see Miss Patchouli over there. Let's go talk to her!"

Kokoro stood still and watched as Koishi skipped off ahead of her, not following her. Her voice had _emotion _in it? She couldn't help but feel extremely happy. Maybe this little adventure wasn't such a waste of time after all.

Noticing that Koishi was already speaking to that girl she was talking about, Kokoro practically ran towards the two as they just about finished their short conversation.

"So you're here to learn about emotion?"

"Yep! Can you help us Miss Patchouli?"

The librarian sighed. "I suppose I can show you some books that _might _help, but that's all I can do."

"That's okay! Hey, you wouldn't happen to know any jokes, would you?"

Patchouli stared at the satori with a blank expression.

"Heh, I guess not... We'll just go with the books. You lead the way, Miss Patchouli!"

Koishi grabbed hold of Kokoro's hand and smiled at her, resting her head on her shoulder. That was becoming a bit of a habit now, them holding hands. Kokoro thought it was cute the first few times but now she found it... strange. Wasn't holding hands something only couples did?

"I'm so proud of you. You still haven't been able to laugh or smile but at least you were able to show _some _emotion back there. I'm so happy for you," Koishi said, letting go of the menreiki's hand and hugging her arm instead, the two of them following Patchouli through the library.

"I'm... very happy too."

"Heh... you don't look happy. You're flustered, aren't you? Why?"

"..."

"Is something wro-"

"This is probably what you're looking for," Patchouli interrupted, stopping beside one of the many enormous bookcases. "These are all books mainly about basic human emotion. They should help with your problem."

"Okie dokie~ Thank you Miss Patchouli.

The librarian waved a hand dismissively over her shoulder as she walked away.

"It's amazing how she knows her way around this huge place, isn't it?" Koishi remarked, gazing at Patchouli's now distant figure fondly. "_Any ways_, let's start looking through these books now. I'll start with this side and you start with the other, okay?"

"Do you like reading, Koishi?" Kokoro asked, pulling a book off a shelf and flicking through the pages.

"A bit... Most of the books at home are boring and complicated. I don't really understand them, but Satori likes them a lot. Do you?"

"Not really..."

"Hmm... That's okay. Look, if these books don't help I might know something that could help..."

Kokoro looked up from her book. "Yes?"

"Throw that book at me," Koishi said, looking her straight in the eyes with a completely serious face.

"What?"

"Seeing someone get hurt is funny, right?"

"Not really..."

"Just throw it!"

"But-"

"_Throw it_."

Kokoro let out a defeated sigh and took a step back. "Fine." The menreiki looked at the book she was holding and then flung it at her friend, trying to be as gentle as possible.

Despite her best efforts to be gentle and aim for somewhere that wouldn't hurt as much if the book hit it, the book ended up hitting the satori's forehead and knocking her onto the floor.

"Are you okay?!" Running to her friend's side, Kokoro knelt down beside her and tried to look concerned.

"I'm fine, silly. And hey, you sorta yelled there. Great job!"

"You're bleeding."

Koishi sat up and ran a finger across her forehead, eyes widening when she saw her finger was covered in blood. "Whoopsies! That was one sharp book, eh? It'll heal up in a few hours."

"Hey! Is that you Patchy?" a voice from behind the two called out.

Kokoro turned around and sighed once she saw who it was. "It's that magician girl. Marisa," she whispered.

"Oh yay!" Koishi exclaimed, turning around and waving at said magician. "I really like her."

"What are you guys doing here?" Marisa asked, walking towards the pair and picking up the book Kokoro had thrown and flicking through it. "Shouldn't you be with Flandre or something, Koishi?"

"Oh uh, Kokoro wanted to learn how to laugh and smile so we came here."

"Trust Patchy to give a kid like you all these complicated books. This is some hardcore psychology right here!"

"Hey, I'm not a kid! I'm way older than _you_!" Koishi pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "And I can definitely understand complicated things like _that_."

Marisa laughed and playfully pinched her cheek. "Ah, you're cute, _kiddo_. You know... I think I might be able to do something that would help Kokoro here laugh."

"Really?"

"Yeah!" The magician put her arm around the menreiki and pulled her closer, whispering into her ear so that Koishi couldn't hear what she was saying.

After a few seconds of whispering she pulled away chuckling to herself. Marisa's smile faded when she saw that Kokoro was still blank-faced. "Youkai these day have no sense of humour at all... Honestly, you're worse than Patchy!"

"No fair, no fair!" Koishi whined, grabbing the apron of Marisa's dress and tugging on it. "Why'd you only tell her? I wanna hear too!"

"You wouldn't get it. It's a grown-up joke, kiddo."

"Stop calling me that, stupid! And I'm _very _grown-up."

"Well, I've had very bad experiences with grown-up jokes and little sisters. And pouting like that doesn't make you look very grown-up, by the way." Marisa pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and handed it to Koishi. "For your head. You're bleeding real bad."

"Thanks..."

"These stupid books aren't gonna help ya at all, Kokoro," Marisa said, addressing the menreiki this time. "If anything, you'd wanna talk to Koishi's sister. She good with stuff like that, right?"

"Good idea, Marisa!" said Koishi, most of her face concealed by the handkerchief.

"Well, I'll be off then!" Marisa took the book she'd been holding and quickly shoved it down her blouse. "I wasn't planning on taking anything today but I just couldn't help myself. This isn't too obvious, is it? And if Patchy asks, I was never here. See yas!"

"Bye Marisa!"

Kokoro nodded at her sheepishly, a little frightened after hearing that "grown-up joke". For once, she actually understood the "joke" , but it wasn't funny; it was... quite disturbing. She hoped Koishi wouldn't ask her what it was.

Said youkai was now hugging herself, staring at the spot where Marisa was standing with that familiar, dreamy smile. "So pretty..." she whispered under her breath, smiling.

"Do you think everyone is pretty?"

"Most people are... Like you, Flandre, Marisa... you get the point."

Kokoro nodded. "Do you think you're pretty?"

Taking the handkerchief away from her face, Koishi stared at the floor, shaking her head. "I don't know. No one's ever said I am. Except Satori... but she's supposed to say things like that, isn't she? Do you think _you're _pretty?"

"No one has ever said I wasn't..."

"Lucky..." Koishi muttered wistfully before looking up again with that creepy, forced smile. "_Annnyy ways_, let's go talk to my sister! I'm sure she'll definitely be able to help us!"

"Koishi, are you all right?"

"Oh I'm _juuussttt _fine, friend! How are you?"

"... Fine."

"Well then let's get going!"

Koishi began to walk off, not with her usual happy skip this time. Kokoro stared at her helplessly.

'_What a strange, strange youkai..._'

* * *

(A/N:) To Everyone in My Writing Class: Go to Hell. Learn how to not talk too. It's annoying.

Sorry for the inexcusable late update and in my opinion... somewhat lacking (? I can't think of the right word) chapter. Well, I hope you enjoyed reading anyways!


	5. Chapter 5

It was strange how Koishi portrayed emotion. From what Kokoro had seen, she was either happy, "happy" or her scary kind of angry. There was never any reason for them to happen; they just... did, and not always at the right time.

It was hard to tell how she was feeling now, due to the darkness of the underground, but her freaky forced smile was still quite apparent. She'd been like that for most of the trip down. Her face must have been hurting a lot by now.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kokoro asked as the two drew closer to a bridge.

"You've asked me that five times already, silly! Of course I'm okay!" Koishi replied cheerfully, looking up at her friend and staring at her, creepy smile widening.

"Oh okay... Um, who's that?" Kokoro nodded at the girl standing on the bridge they were just about to step on to, trying to ignore the fact that Koishi was still staring at her with that odd look.

"That's Parsee! She's a bridge princess. I don't think she'll be able to help us much... Unless you wanna learn how to be super jealous, though I'm not sure you'd like that..." The satori looked away from her friend and waved at the girl. "Hiya Miss Parsee!"

Parsee glared back at her, eyes narrowing when she saw Kokoro. "Hi. Who's that? You shouldn't be bringing youkai from above ground down here. You know that, don't you?"

"Mhm~!"

"So, bring her back up."

"No can do~!" Koishi chimed, linking arms with Kokoro and skipping past Parsee.

"Ugh... whatever."

Kokoro looked back at Parsee, who was staring at them, scowling, before stopping and pulling Koishi back a bit. "What did she mean by that?" she whispered into her friend's ear.

Koishi shook her off and continued walking, pulling Kokoro along with her. "Oh, nothing~ It's just sorta dangerous down here! But don't worry, friend. Most youkai here are kinda afraid of me, so you'll be _juussstt _fine if you stay close."

"All right then... Are you really sure yo-" Before she could even finish her question, Kokoro felt her face hit something.

"Woah there little lady! You oughta watch where you're going, you nearly made me spill my sake!"

The menreiki looked up to see that she'd just walked straight into the chest of a rather tall woman with a single horn coming out of her forehead.

"I'm sorry... I-"

"Hiya Miss Yuugi!" interrupted Koishi, throwing her arms around Kokoro's neck and hugging her tightly. "This is my new best friend Kokoro!"

"Hey there cutie." Yuugi nodded at Kokoro, smiling. "I'm Yuugi. What brings a pretty little thing like you down here? And drop the honorifics, kid."

The satori's left eye twitched at the use of that dreadful nickname. "Heh... sure thing, just as long as you don't call me kid. Or kiddo. We're here to go talk to my sister to see if she can help teach Kokoro how to smile or laugh. Right now, she can only really express feelings with these masks."

"Really? Well, uh, listen Kokoro." Yuugi gently pulled the menreiki away from Koishi and put her arm around her. "I could teach you how to do _a lot _more than laughing, if ya get what I mean, aha."

"Really? That's great Yuugi! Isn't it, Kokoro?"

"I..." Kokoro slowly pushed Yuugi's arm off of her, feeling her face heat up. "I don't know..."

"Are you blushing?" Koishi asked, poking her friend's cheek. "You are! Wow, Yuugi, you were right! You made her do more than laughing. Thanks!"

"Yeah, no problem, kiddo." Yuugi stepped closer to Kokoro again, ignoring Koishi's annoyed look and patted her back before saying to her in a lower voice. "Let me just tell you; what you lack in the front, you really make up for in the back." The menreiki felt her face get hotter as she felt the oni's hand slide lower down her back and gave her backside a quick pat. "Well... I've got places to go and people to see! If you need anything, you know where to find me. Got that, Kokoro?"

"... Yes."

"Great! Well, I'll see yas around," said Yuugi as she waved at the two and walked off.

"She's so kind, isn't she~ " Koishi said, taking her hat off and resting her head on Kokoro's shoulder. Her smile was less... scary now and she seemed to be genuinely happy.

"Is she always that... straightforward?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well... she's very... flirtatious?"

"Oh! I suppose so. Most oni down here are." Koishi grabbed her friend's hand and held onto it tightly.

"... Even towards you?"

"Nope! I think they're scared to talk to me because I'm Satori's sister."

"I see."

"Ehe, you're still blushing," Koishi remarked, giggling, "Do you like Yuugi or something?"

Kokoro shook her head violently, donning her fox mask to show that she was quite serious.

"Good~"

'_Good?_'

"Well," Koishi gave Kokoro's arm a gentle tug, "Let's get going then! We're not that far away now."

* * *

Koishi was right about most of the youkai underground being scared of her. Almost everyone they passed while walking through the Ancient City of Former Hell shied away from them. Koishi didn't seem to notice (or maybe she didn't _want _to notice), she just continued walked along, humming to herself happily.

Once they were finally inside Koishi's house, Kokoro asked her, "Why is everyone so scared of you? I thought that you couldn't read minds any more..."

"I can't. Like I _said_, it's because I'm related to Satori. It's _her _they're scared of."

"I see. Uh... this place is really big. How are we supposed to find your sister?" Kokoro asked, trying to change the subject as she noticed Koishi's eyes were widening in the way they did when she was about to go into one of her funny moods.

"She stays in her room most of the time. I really hope she's feeling all right today... Sometimes when I visit, she says she has a really bad headache and her eyes are red. Is that what happens when you get sick or something?"

Not sure of what to say, the menreiki shrugged. Red eyes and a headache... it sounded a lot like what happened after someone's been crying for a while. Kokoro suddenly felt very sorry for Satori, even though she hadn't exactly met her yet.

"Oh well... How about you wait in the kitchen while I go and get sis? I'll see if she's feeling okay."

"... All right."

Koishi once again linked arms with the menreiki and dragged her off through a rather long and dark hallway.

"Oh, and when you're talking to Satori, tell the truth if she asks you anything," said Koishi as they walked, "She really hates it when people lie to her."

Kokoro nodded, reminding herself to try her best to not think about any embarrassing memories when she was around Koishi's sister.

Letting out a small giggle, the satori moved closer to Kokoro and rubbed her cheek against hers in a movement so quick it was almost unnoticeable. "Hehe, I think you and Satori are gonna get along _juusstt fine_!"

* * *

(A/N:) Wooooaahhhh this was late, right? And I really doubt it was worth the wait... Needed a lot more work in my opinion but oh well. This was originally going to be much longer. In fact, this was supposed to be the final chapter... WELL THEN. I just decided to post it as is, to avoid getting too stressed out. Updates will hopefully be a lot more regular when I go back to school next week. Once I get settled back in my writer's block will probably go away. Anyways, hope everyone enjoyed reading!


	6. Chapter 6

She decided it was great.

It was great to have a friend.

Because as Kokoro walked through the empty, dark, lifeless halls of Chireiden with Koishi hugging her (now completely numb) arm, she felt a certain kind of happiness that she was sure she hadn't felt for a very long time. It wasn't enough to make her smile of course, but it was enough to make her realise how nice it was to have a friend. Before Koishi came along, she'd just been ignored and used, like no one cared about her at all. Well, Kokoro had her doubts about Koishi at first, but who wouldn't? But after a week of being dragged around Gensokyo by a strange little satori, Kokoro finally realised how great it was to have a friend. She was actually glad that Koishi had taken her mask in the first place or el-

"I'm glad too!" Koishi said happily, poking the menreiki's cheek, "Not because the mask was pretty or anything, but because I got to meet you~"

'...What...' Kokoro came to a sudden stop, pulling the satori back as she did so. She stared at Koishi's closed third eye worriedly, making sure that it was indeed closed. "I thought you closed it so... How did you?"

"It's still as closed as ever, silly goosie! You were muttering about me and how you were happy that we're friends. You were talking to me, right?"

Feeling that weird, unfamiliar heat spread across her face, Kokoro stood motionless, unsure of what mask to use. "No... I thought I was just saying all that in my head, not saying it out loud."

The satori shrugged and chuckled quietly. "Hehe, I guess you musta been doing it unconsciously then, silly~"

"Wait... no..."

Koishi wiggled her eyebrows and winked before walking off ahead of her friend. "Well, we're almost at the kitchen! Let's get a move on."

"Wait, what was that supposed to mean, Koishi?" Kokoro asked frantically, running to catch up with Koishi.

"What was what supposed to mean?"

"Did you make me do that?"

"Make you do what? I have no idea what you're talking about, Korky!"

the menreiki let out of desperate sigh. "You do know, Koishi. And what's with that name..."

"I think it's a cute nickname~ And all I said was that you were talking to yourself unconsciously. That's all. You're so cute when you're flustered," Koishi teased, lightly tapping the nose of Kokoro's monkey mask. "Oh, look! We're already here! And I think someone else is too."

Flinging open the door they had just stopped at, Koishi ran in and yelled rather loudly, "HIYA SIS!"

The loud, enthusiastic greeting was followed by a shrill scream.

"Koishi?! You nearly gave me a heart attack! Don't scare me like that..." said an out of breath sounding voice from inside the kitchen.

"Sorry sis! I was just saying hi... Anyway~ I brought my new friend with me! Come say hi, Korky!"

Before she could react, Kokoro was pulled into the kitchen, squinting at the sudden brightness of the room.

"This is my new best friend Kokoro! Say hi to my sister, Korky."

"Nice to meet you," Kokoro greeted, trying to (quite literally) mask the fact that she was giving Koishi's sister a good and proper look over. The two sisters look alarmingly similar , the only major difference being the fact that Satori's eyes were very dull and lifeless in contrast to Koishi's bright and cheery ones. Ev-

"That isn't a very nice thing to think, now is it, Miss Kokoro?"

Still hiding her face behind her young lady mask, Kokoro held her breath and mentally cursed herself for forgetting that she was dealing with a mind reader.

Said mind reader was sitting at the table, sipping half-heartedly at a cup of tea that looked like it was long past being lukewarm.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Kokoro. I'm Satori, Koishi's older sister, but I can see you already knew that. Please sit."

Koishi pulled out a chair and pushed Kokoro down onto it before taking a seat beside her and resting her head on the menreiki's shoulder.

"So you're here for my help with... laughing and smiling..." Satori stated, staring blankly at Kokoro with those aforementioned lifeless eyes.

"Yep!" chimed Koishi, giggling a little louder than usual, "I know it's silly because you're boring and unfunny buuut we thought maybe you could help because you read all these big books about psychology and emotions. Oh, and you can read minds too!"

"I'm not boring..." said Satori, glaring at her younger sister now and looking a bit hurt.

"Are too~"

"No, I'm not."

"Yes you are, silly!"

"I'm not boring, Koishi!"

"Yes you are!"

Kokoro watched on as the two began to bicker in a sisterly fashion, edging away from them both.

She looked at Satori and felt a pang of jealousy. She was boring. Well, she looked boring. But that was her own choice. Right now, she looked a little more lively, but not by much. It wasn't fair! Kokoro had met all these people who acted emotionless even though they were completely capable of smiling and laughing like any other normal person. So why did they chose to be such boring and dull beings? She just couldn't figure it out. All she wanted was to smile, and these people could do just that, yet they chose to be dull. It just didn't make any sense.

"Whatever~ We shouldn't fight in front of guests!" Koishi nudged Kokoro's arm, once again interrupting her thoughts. "So sis, can ya help her?"

Satori took another sip of tea and was silent for a moment. "I'm not sure. I'd have to do some reading first. I wouldn't take too long but I can't help you immediately..."

"Really?" Koishi looked disappointed, "I thought you already read all the books here..."

"Not all of them, just a good majority of them. Besides, I don't only read those "big boring" books."

"Oh oh oh! Did you read the book I got you yet? The one about world foods?" the younger satori asked, looking very happy.

"...Not yet... I'll read it some other time..." Satori downed the rest of her tea and stood up, "Well, if you really want my help, it's best you wait until I do some research. I'm not very clued in on menreiki."

"That's okay. Thank you, Satori," said Kokoro, nodding at her politely.

"Not a problem. Come back to me whenever, but not too soon."

"Okay sis! Bye bye~!"

Satori waved at her young sister and nodded back at Kokoro before exiting the room. Koishi stared at the door for a few seconds with a huge grin on her face.

"Wanna know what other books she reads?" she whispered, leaning into Kokoro's ear, "Dirty grown-up books."

(A/N:) I phrased my last note so badly it makes me scream into my pillow. Totally not the end of story. Still a lot more to come. More than I expected! The original plan was five chapters but people seem to actually like this so I decided to make it much longer. Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

"I know who we can talk to next, Korky!" said Koishi as the two walked out of the kitchen and back into the dark hallways of Chireiden.

"Hmm?"

"We can talk to my sister's pets!"

"... I can't talk to animals, Koishi," Kokoro stated plainly.

"Me neither!"

"Then how...?"

"How what?"

Kokoro stared at Koishi, completely speechless. Was she really that airheaded?! "How are we supposed to talk to pets? Aren't pets animals?"

"Ooohh! Silly me~" The satori giggled and smacked her own forehead lightly, "I was talking about Orin and Okuu. They're animals but they can makes themselves be people too, see? I'm sure they'll be able to help us!"

Kokoro nodded understandingly, before asking, "All right then... where will we find them?"

"Hell of course. That's where they work."

The menreiki stopped walking and stared at Koishi with wide eyes. "...What? Where?"

"You know... Hell! The big fiery place!" Koishi said, as if talking about going to Hell was the most normal thing in the world. "Orin and Okuu spend a lot of time working there, but I'm pretty sure they won't mind taking a break to talk to us."

"We're going to Hell... Hell..." Kokoro swore she felt the colour drain from her already quite pale face as she said the word. "Won't we die?" she questioned weakly.

"Oh you're such a silly goosie, Korky~!" Of course not. Well... as long as you don't fall or anything... But other than that it's completely safe!"

"Won't we get burned?"

"Nope! We'll be juuuussttt fiinneee, silly~" said Koishi, grabbing her friend by the arm and dragging her through a nearby door. The room they entered felt significantly hotter than the other parts of Chireiden.

"See that big red glowy light over there?" Koishi's voice was laced with excitement as she pointed at the far end of the room. "That's Hell!"

"I'm not sur-"

"Well, let's get going! We have no time to waste." The satori skipped off, pulling Kokoro along with her.

"Koishi I really do-"

"What's that, Korky? I can't really hear ya!"

"Koishi pl- Oh."

Before she knew it, Kokoro was standing in Hell, surrounded by fire and flames. She was... perfectly fine? She'd just been dragged into Hell yet she was completely unharmed? She looked down and saw that she was, indeed, free of burns and totally intact. While it was a little scary being surrounded by fire, it wasn't as bad as she expected. Kokoro let out a sigh of relief.

"Of course you're fine! What were you expecting?"

Kokoro stared down at Koishi. "How did you... you..."

"Hear that? You were talking to yourself again," Koishi told her, walking off as she giggled, "Satori wouldn't even need to use her powers around you, hehe~"

"Did you make me do that again?" the menreiki asked, unsure of what mask to use.

Turning around, Koishi winked and smiled at her, "What do you mean by 'again', ehehe?" She stared at Kokoro with her signature creepy gaze, her eyes looking even more omnious in the dim crackly light. "Like I said last time, you must be just doing it unconciously,hehe. You really need to stop zoning out all the time. You're almost as bad as me~ Anyways, let's go find Orin and Okuu!"

"... All right." Kokoro ran to catch up with Koishi, not wanting to get lost in Hell.

_'Note to self: Don't get too lost in thought around this youkai!'_

* * *

"Hmm... ya want help with smilin' and laughin', sis?"

"... Yes."

The kasha tapped her chin in thought, leaning against her wheelbarrow. "Sorry sis, but I dunno how to help ya!"

"Aw, Orin! Couldn't you at least tell her what makes you laugh or something?" Koishi whined, poking at one of the corpses in Rin's wheelbarrow.

"I supposed that could work... Great idea Lady Koishi! Well... Finding corpses makes me smile... and belly rubs make me laugh too! And getting petted behind my ears! Oh, sleeping with Lady Satori makes me smile too... so soft and warm... oh man I co-"

Koishi cut her off with a loud cough, glaring at Rin with an ice cold stare. "What?"

"Ahahaha... I-I said... isn't the weather nice t-today?"

"You sleep with Satori." Koishi said blankly, poking one of the corpses' face roughly.

The kasha scratched the back of her neck and laughed nervously. "O-only sometimes! Very rarely... I-It's not like I sleep with her every night... Just occasionally, ahaha pleasedon'thurtme..."

"Hmm..." Koishi stared at her for a moment before adverting her gaze to a worried looking Kokoro. "You said belly rubs..." she muttered, reaching out her hand and running it over Kokoro's stomach.

"K-Koishi you don't ha-"

"Ssshhhh! Let's see if it works..."

Rin watched the two, blushing with her mouth agape. "It was nice meeting ya sis but I... uh... I have to get going to that...that... B-Bye!" And with that, the kasha grabbed her wheelbarrow and ran off, leaving Koishi and Kokoro alone.

"I wonder where she's going,"Koishi pondered aloud, still stroking her friend's stomach. "You're shirt is really soft, Korky! Do you air dry your clothes?"

"..." The menreiki stared at her, speechless.

"It's not working, is it?"

Kokoro shook her head, silently begging Koishi to stop rubbing her.

The satori sighed and stopped her hand's movements. "Orin is such a silly kitty! I can't believe she thinks she can just sleep in the same bed as my sister without asking me first. How cute. Anyways~ Should we go and talk to Okuu now? I'm sure she'll be able to help!"

Nodding in agreement, Kokoro followed her friend as she walked away, walking a few paces behind Koishi."Korky, can I ask you a question?" Koishi didn't turn around as she asked that, or even slow down so Kokoro could catch up with her.

"...Okay..." Kokoro replied hesitantly .

"I was just wondering if you... if you ever thought about getting married."

"W-What?!" Kokoro switched masks faster than she'd ever switched masks before.

"You know! Marriage? Spending the rest of forever with someone special." The satori turned around and smiled at her with twinkling eyes. "I've thought about it! A lot..."

"Well... there was one... N-No." Kokoro didn't finish her sentence.

"There was someone? Who, who?! Tell me _plleeaaseee_!" begged Koishi, who was suddenly right beside Kokoro, clinging to her arm.

"I don't really want to talk about it... Sorry, Koishi."

Koishi looked a little disappointed for a moment, but smiled and nodded understandingly. "It's okay! I understand _completely_.Did they say no when you asked them to marry them? That happened to me _sooo _many times. Sometimes when I asked, they just completely ignored me! Like this one human boy I used to play with, when I asked him to marry me, he acted like I didn't even exist! Did that happen to you? Or did they ask _you _but..."

Kokoro let Koishi ramble on, only half listening to her. Why did she have to bring up marriage? It was hard enough to try and learn to smile and laugh when she hadn't done either once in her entire life, but it was going to be even harder if she was feeling sad and thinking about... _that_. She just had to forget about it and think of other things.

"Hey Korky? Why are you looking so sad?" Koishi asked, twirling one of the strings of Kokoro's old woman mask around her finger. "Is it because I asked about getting married? Oh! I'm so stupid! I'm really _really _sorry for bringing it up if that's what made you sad..."

"It's all right. Really."

"Really? Are you sure? I won't bring it up ever again, I pro- **HEY LOOK THERE'S** **OKUU**!"

Before she could even blink, Koishi had disappeared from Kokoro's side, running off towards a winged-figure in the distance. The menreiki shook her head good-naturedly. It was funny how Koishi was so easily distracted... almost endearing. Kokoro ran to catch up with her, not really fancying the idea of being left alone in Hell.

* * *

Utsuho was a very... different kind of youkai. One would expect such a fierce looking hell raven to have an equally fierce personality, but that was definitely not the case with Utsuho.

"Hiya Miss Kokoro! I'm Utsuho, but you can just call me Okuu. Nice to meet you!" 'Okuu' greeted her with a dopey smile on her face.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you too."

"Yay! Now we're all friends!" exclaimed Koishi, pushing her way between the two. "Now, do you know anything we can do t make little Korky over here smile and laugh, Okuu?"

"Hmm, let me think... _Uuuuhhhh..._" The raven bit her lip and scratched her head in thought for awhile. A very long while.

Kokoro and Koishi stared at her expectantly, if not a little impatiently.

"... _Uuuuuuuuhhhhh_- Oh! I know! Looking at my shiny collection makes me smile whenever I feel sad!"

"Really? Can you show us your collection and see if it makes her happy too?" Koishi asked, smiling with her hands clasped to her chest.

"Sure! Give me one minute!" Okuu flew off, the heavy bits of metal attached to her not hindering her ability to fly at all.

"Well Korky, looks like it's just you and me now. You know what that means, don't you? said Koishi as soon as Utsuho left, looking at Kokoro with a sly grin as she winked at her.

"...No, I don't."

"Ehehe, me neither!"

Kokoro stared at her. "Then why did you..."

"Oh, I heard some humans say it once and I just thought this was an appropriate time to say it, so I did!"

"O... kay?"

"Yep!"

"I'm back!" Utsuho landed in front of them, holding a small black box. "Um... Did I come back at a bad time?"

"Nope! Let's see what you have in the box then!" The satori made her way over to Utsuho and nodded at the box.

"Okay! You come over here too, Miss Kokoro."

Once everyone was gathered around the box. The hell raven lifted the lid, revealing a collection of pretty, shiny things.

"This is my collection. I've been collecting these things for ages and ages now. Whenever I feel down, I just go to my nest, take out my box and look at all my things and I feel better straight away!"

"Where do you find all of these things?" asked Kokoro. Hell didn't seem like the kind of place where you would find random coins and fancy jewelry.

"Oh! I found some of them in the Ancient City, but I got most of these coins and this ring when I went above ground to run some errands for Lady Satori." Utsuho held up a pretty silver ring, staring at it with dreamy eyes. "Orin sometimes gives me coins and chains too. And when that goddess from the mountain came down she gave me some of this nice jewelry! But I got most of this stuff when that black-white witch came down and beat me up, she dropped a lot of shiny things when we were fighting."

"Wow, Okuu! They're all very, very pretty~ What do you think Korky?" Koishi and Utsuho both looked at Kokoro, waiting for her reply.

"It's very nice but..."

"... It's not nice enough to make you smile? Aw Korky..."

"I'm sorry, Okuu. But thank you for trying to help."

The raven nodded and smiled. "It's okay! Maybe you should try talking to Lady Satori. She's very clever and she'd definitely be able to help."

Koishi shook her head and sighed. "We already talked to her but she said she had to do research first before she could even _try _to help."

"Oh... Well maybe you could go to the Human Village!" said Utsuho helpfully, "I heard there's a human living there that knows a lot about all sorts of youkai. I'm sure they can help..."

* * *

Q and A with author:

Q: Why such a late update?

A: I'm so lazy iT IS NOT EVEN FUNNY OH MY LORD! And personal problems.

Q: Will every update take this long?

A: No hopefully not.

Ugh I'm so sorry for the like month long wait but a lot of things happened and school was tough so I didn't have much time to write (that, and I didn't really feel like writing omg). But updates will definitely be a lot faster from here on out. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you very much for reading!


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